A Bronx healthcare executive is suing the New York Yankees for $10 million, claiming a flying bat that struck her in the head during a recent game left her with a traumatic brain injury and other lasting harm.
Stephanie Duluc, 37, serves as chief of staff at SOMOS Community Care. She was seated in luxury seats behind home plate at Yankee Stadium when Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez’s bat sailed into the stands.
Duluc raised her hands in an attempt to protect herself. The bat still connected with significant force, according to her legal filing.
The complaint states the bat struck her “with such force that it knocked her from her seat and violently threw her to the ground, causing her to sustain severe and permanent injuries.”
She has not returned to work since the incident. Her lawsuit seeks compensation for medical bills, ongoing care, lost wages, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
Duluc alleges the Yankees were negligent. She points to a gap in the protective netting in front of her seats that she says allowed the bat to reach her.
Baseball teams have long relied on the so-called Baseball Rule. That legal doctrine generally shields clubs from liability when fans are hit by balls, bats or other equipment during games.
Courts have dismissed many similar claims against the Yankees and other teams on those grounds. Fans are considered to assume the ordinary risks of attending a live game.
An important exception exists, however. Teams and stadium operators must still provide adequate protective netting in high-risk areas, particularly behind home plate.
Duluc’s case turns on whether she can show the netting at Yankee Stadium was defective or insufficient in the area where she sat. If she succeeds on that point, the usual protections of the Baseball Rule may not apply.
As of Friday afternoon, the Yankees had not issued a public statement about the lawsuit or the underlying incident.
The case adds another chapter to the ongoing debate over fan safety at major league ballparks. Netting has been extended in recent years at many stadiums following injuries from foul balls and broken bats.
Duluc’s attorneys will need to prove both the existence of a dangerous gap and a direct link between that gap and her injuries. The Yankees are expected to argue that the protective measures in place met or exceeded industry standards.
For now, the $10 million claim remains pending.
Duluc continues to deal with the physical and professional fallout from the night she was struck while watching a Yankees-Guardians contest from one of the stadium’s premium seating sections.
